DINE AND DASH

On August 16 at approximately 9:33 p.m., Officer Tyler Stone along with several members of the Warwick Police Department responded to Aroogas for a report of a party that left without paying a bill.

At the scene officers were informed that the suspect was a tall black male wearing a white top. The suspect was located fleeing in the area of the Crowne Plaza and was detained. He was later identified as Damon Burns, 43, of 23 Rockcrest Drive in Cranston.

According to a statement provided by a restaurant manager, Burns sat down at the bar where he ordered food and drinks totaling $82.23, which included 10 chicken wings, a build your own bowl, several shots of fireball, and several beers. After about an hour Burns allegedly got up and left the establishment without paying. The manager told officers that he would like to press charges if Burns was still unwilling to pay.

Burns stated to officers that he was unable to pay, and was taken into custody. Background checks were conducted which revealed that Burns has an active bench warrant from the Sixth District court for driving with a suspended license. He was then transported to police headquarters.

Burns was charged with obtaining food/accommodations with intent to defraud. He was held for the next court session.

SHOPLIFTING

Officers Christopher Gillis and John Zaborski were dispatched to the Bald Hill Road TJ Max/HomeGoods store for a report of a shoplifting in progress on Aug. 18 at 3:30 p.m.

Upon arrival they met with loss prevention associate, who informed them that he had observed a white male wearing all black enter the store and quickly select several items from various departments and concealed them in his backpack. He then exited the store passing all points of sale without paying. Once outside, a member of security approached the suspect, later identified as Jason Mather, 37, of 31 Stevens Drive in Warwick, and detained him.

Mather was placed in handcuffs by officers and escorted to the loss prevention office. There $266.92 worth of merchandise was recovered, which was not able to be sold. Background checks revealed that Mather had an outstanding warrant from the Third District Court for failure to appear for a restitution review. He was later transported to police headquarters.

Because of a previous criminal record, Mather was charged with felony shoplifting and one count of habitual offender shoplifting. He was transported to the ACI for the next available court date for the outstanding warrant.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

On August 19 at approximately 9:15 p.m., Officers Ali Jaafar and Matthew Higgins were dispatched to the area of Post and Airport Roads for a report of a vehicle traveling on a flat tire and operating erratically. The officers then checked the surrounding area with negative results.

Some time later, around 9:20 p.m., while traveling north on Post Road, the officers observed a vehicle with what appeared to be numerous flat tires and front end damage exiting Route 37 and entering Post Road north. The vehicle appeared to have no rubber left on three tires and its right front fender had peeled off. After entering Post Road, the vehicle made an abrupt let turn into the left lane without signaling and then went back into the right lane. A traffic stop was initiated more than a quarter of a mile from where officers first activated their overhead lights.

The operator, identified in the report as Ashley Houlihan, 23, of 52 New Hampshire Street in Cranston. According to the police narrative Houlihan appeared extremely confused, showed signs of intoxication, and had a strong odor of alcohol emanating from her breath as she spoke. She stated that she did not know about the damage to her car and was just trying to get home. She denied that she had been drinking, and reiterated that she wanted to go home. She then consented to partake in a series of standardized sobriety tests.

During the tests she would fluctuate between crying and laughing. Based on her performance during the tests, the officers determined that she was unfit to operate a motor vehicle safely. She was then placed under arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence. Her car was towed and she was transported to police headquarters, where she later refused to take a chemical breathalyzer test.

Houlihan was charged with driving under the influence first offence, refusal to submit to a chemical test, laned roadway violations and operation on metal tires. She was later released to a sober adult.

FALSE PRETENSES

Officer Timothy Tavares was dispatched to the Bald Hill Road Burlington store on August 22 around 10:22 a.m. for a report of fraud that occurred the previous evening.

At the scene he met with a loss prevention manager, who stated that on August 21 two males who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent entered the store around 9 p.m. The men selected a soda and proceeded to the cashier to purchase it at a cost of $1.27. They handed two dollars to the cashier who then opened the register drawer.

At that time one of the males took a stack of $20 bills and asked for $100 bills in exchange. The cashier then began to count the money and as she was doing so she put it in one of the men’s hand. He ended up folding the stack in half and put it into his left pocket and only gave half of the money to the cashier. The man continued to confuse the cashier and was able to repeat the process. At the end of the night the drawer was short $680.

Burlington would like to press charges should the suspects be apprehended.